Will the electric car make a comeback? are electric vehicles practical ?

Question

will the electric car make a comeback? are electric vehicles practical in todays urban metropolitan enviroments?

Answer 1

In order to make a comeback, you have to have once been a significant player.  Electric cars have never been significant (unless you want to count golf carts) so no, they will not be making any comeback.  

But, they do have the potential to become a major player in some areas such as urban commuters.  To achieve this potential, they must have reasonable performance, competative costs, both the purchase and operate, and be at least as safe as other cars on the road.

Answer 2

I really wish they would make a come back!! I rented the movie "Who killed the electric car"!!! GM did by the way...I recommend anyone watch that movie that doesn't know much about this subject!!! This is a true story I think it was in California!

They are practical...You just have to charge the battery! And instead of gas stations we could have battery charging stations!!! (Like in the movie)....

Answer 3

The electric car has already made a comeback in London in the form of the G-Wiz. This four-seater electric powered car has a range of up to 48 miles per charge. The car can be fully charged for as little as £0.30 (about 3kWh).

For the price of £6995 ($14,000) you can purchase the basic model, which comes with a host of benefits to the London user;

54 Free Charging Stations in London

Free Parking in London

Exempt from Congestion Charge

Lowest Insurance Group

100% Tax Write Off for Business

Lowest Rate Company Car Tax at 9%

These benefits are worth upto £8000 ($16000) a year.

Whilst the car may not have the most aesthetically fashionable look for the average London socialite the cars are selling fast, and are now the UK's best selling electric car.

With further incentives to users to buy electric cars and consumers buying electric cars, more money will be invested in developing the technology to advance the product forward.

At the moment I feel this car is suitable for city use in London and other cities around the world, however this car is impractical if you travel further than the acceptable range, especially for the US market. If the electric cars were to take of and more charging stations were available this would improve the practicality of electric cars in general.

G-Wiz ( http://www.goinggreen.co.uk )

Energy Saver

http://howtosaveenergy.blogspot.com

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Answer 4

At some point, the electric car will probably become a reality.  For one, the perofrmance of electric cars is very high because of the large amonts of torque that the electric motors produce.  Also, a benefit of electric cars is that they are exceptionally quiet.  Electric cars are practical in some urban environments where one does not have to commute very far to work.  stop and go traffic is what leads to a lot of fuel waste in today's society because cars get 0MPG when they are idling.

The electric car, though, will only make a comeback after certain criteria are met. First, the price of the cars must go down and cannot be subsidized by the government or car companies.  Electric cars are very expensive today because fo the R&D costs.  Another thing that must be improved is batteries.  An electric car needs some way to store electricity, and modern day batteries cannot hold enough to take an electric car more than a few hundred miles before it needs to be recharged.  Much of today's electricity is produced by burning coal and fossil fuel, so our electricity production must turn to renewable energy resources.  Electric cars will drive demand for electricity, and may end up polluting the environment more if we continue to use fossil fuels do generate electricty.  Also, when making electric cars, many toxic waste products are going to be produced, primairly when the batteries are created.  Before a large investment is made in electric cars, we must first find a way to safetly recycle or dispose of depleted batteries.

Answer 5

Yes!! my dad just started working for an electric car company and they aren't making money as of now off of the cars specifically just the other part of the company that is about textiles but by next year the electric cars should be going highway speed so like i think 60 or 70 mph. The hybrids are definately taking off and i think that soon the electric cars will.

Answer 6

sure are

Answer 7

yes, but maybe for the wrong reasons.

people will flock to them they way they did cars in the early part of the 20th century once henry ford made them affordable by mass producing them on an assembly line.

the problem is that it takes fossil fuels in today's economy to produce the cars and the batteries and the electricty to power them.  all of this manufacturing and generating produces a lot of the same pollution problems as do cars powered by gas or dieslale engines.  also, car batteries as they exist right now are also probably the most toxic componenet of the car and electric cars will need more and bigger batteries.

the real solution for urban metropolitan environments is to go backwards instead of forwards by planning and retro-designing them to be more bike and pedestrian friendly.  intead of big-box retail stores out in the suburbs, america needs to return to the mainstreet district where you can work, shop, eat and be entertained in a small space.

Answer 8

Sure, that's what hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius are all about.

Answer 9

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Yes, the time of the practical and affordable electric car is almost upon us - there are more electric cars for sale now, or in development, than at any time in our history.  Some people will be very surprised what electric cars are capable of.

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The best thing I can do is to show you a couple:

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http://phoenixmotorcars.com

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The Phoenix electric pickup truck - using new, advanced Altairnano batteries (based on research from MIT) - can:

-Travel up to 250 miles per charge (with expanded battery pack)

-Carry 5 passengers plus cargo at 95mph.

-Charges batteries in as little as TEN MINUTES.

-Has batteries that last 250,000 miles (never need replacement.)

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Now, as to performance - you can't beat the Tesla electric sports car - it does 130mph, and 0 to 60 in under 4 seconds. Driving range is close to 250 miles:

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http://www.teslamotors.com

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Both of the above are real cars, for sale right now. And there's lots more! (Check out my links below)

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Incidentally, it doesn't matter what powerplants burn. Charge the car at night. Since most large powerplants can't shut off at night, you're using electricity that otherwise goes to waste.

Even if plants burned nothing but coal and oil (hint: they don't) EVs would still make much less pollution because: they are several times more efficient; powerplants burn fuel much more efficiently than you do; and delivering energy by wire to your EV is far more efficient than trucking gas around. Also, modern battery designs are NOT toxic to the environment. See the links below.

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